Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw 2018

The official Melbourne Cup draw is an important aspect of the famous race, with some barriers clearly better than others in a historical analysis of winning horses. The Melbourne Cup barrier draw will take place at Flemington Racecourse on the evening of Saturday November 4 2018. The draw takes place at the conclusion of Victoria Derby day, which is the traditional start of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The Melbourne Cup barrier draw

Some say the Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw is the biggest determinant of who will win the race on the day. Others say it doesn’t make a difference. In the 3200m Melbourne Cup, the barrier of the horse shouldn’t play too much of a factor in where your horse runs, but in a 24-horse field it can mean the difference between who has the energy left to nose in front at the end of the race. From the list of acceptances, the horses draw a barrier, which is where they will jump from on the day of the race.

The Lexus Stakes run on Derby day is the last race in which Melbourne Cup hopefuls can get a spot in the final field thus the barrier draw must commence after this time. It is accustom that the VRC announces the final Melbourne Cup Field and barriers at 5.30pm after all the formalities have taken place and the final list of acceptances is in.

The Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw is held at the same venue as the race itself, the Barrier Draw takes place at Flemington Racecourse after Derby Day has wound up its action on the track.

Every year hopeful punters will scour over statistics in hope of finding a winner. There are some key stats to note when it comes to the Melbourne Cup barrier draw.

A total of 8 horses have won after jumping from barrier 5 making it the most successful barrier in the Cups history. Barrier 10 has seen 7 wins while barriers 11, 14 & 17 have all seen 6 winners.

Barrier 18 might be a barrier to avoid with not a single horse having won the race jumping form the 18th stall.

What is the best Melbourne Cup barrier?

This is a commonly discussed topic and there is no correct answer. Most people in the racing industry, be that trainers or owners, will tell you they don’t want to be to close to the inside and certainly not drawn to far out wide.

However tactics can play a big part and the barrier draw can either be an advantage or disadvantage should a horse want to run on or off the speed.

If you are drawn on the outside you need to make up a lot of ground on the field before going into the first corner at the end of the straight. There’s a potential for horses to either use up too much energy trying to get handily placed, or miss the break completely and be too far off the front to win the race. An inside draw offers similar problems with horses jostling for places in the lead up to the first corner.

Usually the barrier draw for the Melbourne Cup is televised on the main racing channels for you to watch. The 2018 draw should be televised on Racing.com (Channel 78). Also many online bookies post the barrier draw as it’s announced.